Chili quinoa balls on onion and pepper vegetables with roasted peach and basil lavender cream

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 100g quinoa
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 200 ml vegetable stock
• 1 egg(s)
• 3 tbsp breadcrumbs
• ½ tsp smoked chili flakes (chipotle)
• ¼ tsp cinnamon powder
• 20 g butter
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 m.-large onion(s), red
• 125 g bell pepper(s), green
• 15 g butter
• 2 peaches
• some powdered sugar
• 20 g oat flakes, wholegrain
• 10 g butter
• 2 garlic cloves
• 50 g basil pesto
• 100 ml cooking cream, 15% fat
• 2 tsp olive oil
• ¾ tsp lavender flowers, dried
• 20 ml lemon juice
• e.g. salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 35 minutes; Total time approx. 55 minutes

vegetarian

To make the chili quinoa balls, combine the vegetable stock with tomato paste, chili flakes, and cinnamon in a saucepan. Add the quinoa and bring everything to a boil. Then, cover and simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed by the quinoa. Transfer the quinoa to a bowl and let it cool. Peel the onion and cut it lengthwise into wedges. Wash the bell peppers, remove the stems, cores, and inner membranes, and cut as many bell peppers as indicated into long strips. Wash the peaches, halve them lengthwise, twist the halves together, and remove the pits. Then cut each peach half into sixths. Peel the garlic and press or finely chop it. Mix the cooled quinoa with the egg and breadcrumbs and season with a little salt. Gently press a heaped tablespoon of the mixture into a ball using two wet hands, then shape it into a ball. Heat the butter for the balls in a pan and fry the balls on all sides over medium heat for about 12-15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the butter for the vegetables in a second large pan and fry the onion and bell pepper strips over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then push the vegetables to one side of the pan. Add the butter for the peaches to the free side and heat it up. Add the peach slices and sprinkle with a little powdered sugar. Caramelize the peaches on both sides over medium heat for about 3 minutes per side, while allowing the vegetables to finish cooking in the pan. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil for the cream in a small saucepan and sauté the garlic for about 4 minutes over medium heat until translucent. Then stir in the cream and basil pesto and bring to a boil. Add the dried lavender flowers and simmer everything over low heat for about 4 minutes. Finally, stir in the lemon juice until smooth and season with salt and pepper. Once the peaches are caramelized, remove them from the pan along with the vegetables and toast the oats in the remaining fat for a few minutes until golden brown. When serving, place the quinoa balls on top of the onion and pepper mixture, arrange the peaches around them, garnish with the cream, and sprinkle the oats on top. Tip: To save on cookware, you can also fry the balls first, keep them warm, and then fry the vegetables and peach slices in the same pan. However, this will increase the cooking time accordingly.